Themes & Ideology analysis

British social realism – Themes & Ideology

O Ideology is a set of doctrines or beliefs that individuals and institutions abide by; these can range from political to sociological values.

O On the other hand, themes are the subject of a film or a topic which a film revolves around, for example, in the film „Four Lions‟ (2010) the themes were politics and violence as it was based around the area of terrorism.

O It is important for these type of films to have a theme and ideology as it helps introduce the characters and the story in the most suitable way for the audience to connect with. For example, in the film „Fish tank‟ the main theme is social class and we see the protagonist‟s deprived life as „Mia‟ asks her mum‟s boyfriend for money (more than once). We also witness „Mia‟ getting raped which promotes this „kitchen sink ideology‟ whereby, nothing is meant to seem optimistic and fun but instead gritty and harsh.

British social realism – Themes & Ideology

O The unique elements of themes and ideology in British Social realism films is that it typically presents the themes in the film in a gritty way. For example, in „Nowhere Boy‟ (2009) it follows the theme of sexuality, social class and relationships in a harsh way as the protagonist is a working class boy with not many friends but finds a girlfriend who treats him quite rough. Therefore, the themes and ideology always seem to have some raw aspect to it whereby nothing is meant to seem “pleasant” which follows the British social realism ideology that films should be representative of real life situations.

O It can be seen that there is a pattern to British social realism films as most of the standard common themes such as politics, sexuality; violence; social class; religion; money; drugs; personal growth; and relationships are echoed in a realistic way. They use these themes to tackle controversial topics which society faces on a daily basis which promotes the ideology that British social realism films portrays everyday troubles.

Current Affairs make good themes for British social realism films

Here we have the theme of

religion/politics.

Here we have the theme of

money.

Here we have the theme of

religion/politics.

Using current affairs to make a British social realism synopsis

This article grabbed my attention as it follows the

theme of money and reflects a British social realism

values of representing the “real British life”.

It has made me envisage how I can construct my

British social realism film. The title of the newspaper

“in bid to boost UK economy” connotes a “falling

Britain”. Therefore, I think that my film could represent

this in some way, by following the theme of politics and

money whereby, politician are becoming corrupted

and are causing financial corruption. I thought this

because of the recent changes to working class

individuals in terms of finance. For example, university

fees have risen by £6000 and living cost have risen

dramatically due to the changes in public sector work

such as pay freezes for workers (who are mainly

working class people).